Forage Fish for Washington State - 05/14/12 07:31 AM
A buddy just enlisted me to help him whip his pond into shape on the property they are purchasing. It's a nice chance for me to get to work on it while my pond construction plans are on hold (I started a new business).
The pond is on whidbey island in NW Washington,
Pond in question
Now once he get the keys I'll be out there skimming off the duckweed, determining the water quality, mapping out the bottom, and doing a fish survey.
The biggest problem we have up here is that there really are no true native forage fish for ponds, and as such no hatcheries I have found that carry them. That said I figure we would try to get whatever is the best fit and stock them over the next couple years before we start adding the target species (YP and CC with some trout if the water level is deep enough to support over summer)
So what would you gents add for a forage species *FHMs are considered an invasive species up here. So other than those give me some Ideas.
I should add that the pond is roughly 150' x 40' with depth yet to be determined. Weather is generally mild with winter not colder than 20 or so (and even then for less than a week at a time) and summer that average in the mid 70's
The pond is on whidbey island in NW Washington,
Pond in question
Now once he get the keys I'll be out there skimming off the duckweed, determining the water quality, mapping out the bottom, and doing a fish survey.
The biggest problem we have up here is that there really are no true native forage fish for ponds, and as such no hatcheries I have found that carry them. That said I figure we would try to get whatever is the best fit and stock them over the next couple years before we start adding the target species (YP and CC with some trout if the water level is deep enough to support over summer)
So what would you gents add for a forage species *FHMs are considered an invasive species up here. So other than those give me some Ideas.
I should add that the pond is roughly 150' x 40' with depth yet to be determined. Weather is generally mild with winter not colder than 20 or so (and even then for less than a week at a time) and summer that average in the mid 70's